A police investigation into allegations that a Minnesota priest possessed child pornography will not lead to charges against him — because the evidence was withheld by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, according to a police report discussed in Ramsey County court Thursday.

The report by St. Paul police Sgt. William Gillet says he met March 5 with Joseph Kueppers, chancellor for civil affairs for the archdiocese, and Andrew Eisenzimmer, who had retired from that position two months earlier.

The officer requested a "white banker's box" that police had been told was in a vault at the archdiocese and contained information about the Rev. Jonathan Shelley.

Jennifer Haselberger, a former chancellor for canonical affairs for the archdiocese, had told them they would find computer discs from a laptop computer owned by Shelley that held with "thousands of images of child pornography" and reports that made reference to search terms such as "helpless teenage boys," "naked boy pics" and "hard core teen boys."

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She knew the archdiocese had hired Richard Setter & Associates, a private investigation firm. Setter in turn hired a forensic expert to examine the computer. Expert Gary Johnson "was instructed to view only some of its contents," the police report said.

Johnson wrote in a report that he found 2,300 images, including those of a young boy performing oral sex on another male. The report had been in the white banker's box, Haselberger told police.

Haselberger resigned, she said in a deposition filed in a Roseau County court case, because archdiocese officials did not tell police about potential crimes of Shelley and another priest, who was sentenced this year to five years in prison for sexually abusing two boys and possession of child pornography.

Shelley's attorney asked a reporter to withhold Shelley's name from this news report.

"It is unfair to name an individual who will never be charged but whose identity will now be forever tainted," attorney Paul Engh said. Engh also said that church officials had provided discs of the data from the laptop to police.

James Accurso, spokesman for the archdiocese, said Shelley, 52, was on sabbatical as pastor of St. John the Baptist Church of Hugo beginning June 15, 2012, and placed on leave March 30 of this year "pending the outcome of the police investigation."

Accurso said the archdiocese was cooperating with the investigation.

When Gillet first approached Kueppers and Eisenzimmer in March and requested the banker's box, "Eisenzimmer was visibly upset with the request and asked the name of the priest in question, which at this time we did not have," Gillet wrote.

"Eisenzimmer went so far as to say that he needed to know which property we were talking about. We were surprised with, this as it suggested to us the possibility that there might be more than one case of pornographic materials the church was dealing with, and so we asked for clarification. Eisenzimmer seemed to backpedal somewhat and said no, that he believes he knows who the priest is," Gillet wrote.

The officers said they would call back with the name of the priest, and the archdiocese officials agreed to turn over the property.

"Kueppers very clearly said that no property or evidence would be destroyed and he would make sure it was held until we contact him further," Gillet wrote.

The next day, March 6, Gillet contacted Kueppers, saying he needed the evidence. Kueppers said their attorney, Wieser, would call that afternoon to release it. When Wieser had not called by 2:30, Gillet called him. Wieser said he would release the material later that day or the next day.

On March 7, Gillet received a voice message from Wieser saying that three computer discs were ready for pickup, but that he wouldn't release the written material.

Gillet's expressed uncertainty in his report about what the archdiocese turned over.

"Whether these discs given to me were the actual discs or copies of those discs after first asking for them, I do not know nor will I most likely ever know," Gillet wrote. The discs contained adult pornography but no child pornography.

Jeff Anderson, a St. Paul lawyer who has sued the archdiocese and others over priest misconduct, said Thursday that the police report confirmed "a long-standing practice by top officials, particularly in this archdiocese, to retain incriminating evidence, to keep it in vaults and to protect offenders."